Almost instinctively, Shen Wuqiu looked at the water glass and ran towards the white cat.
The air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Everyone present stared blankly at the trajectory of the flying water glass.
Finally, the water glass fell to the ground, grazing the back of Shen Wuqiu's hand. It hit her joint, causing a sharp pain that made her hand go numb.
Cats are born with a keen sense of reflexes, not to mention this white cat with the bloodline of an ancient divine beast. She didn't even notice the water cup that Su Yunzhi threw at her.
But... but she never expected the woman in front of her to do something like this...
She was stunned.
With a "bang," the water glass fell to the floor and splashed everywhere. The crisp sound of it breaking seemed to press the start button on the still world.
The white cat was the first to come to its senses. Before anyone could react, it fiercely charged at Su Yunzhi, jumped directly onto her head, and began tearing at her hair.
"...Ah...JunJun...Quickly help Mommy get this thing off..." Su Yunzhi had never seen anything like this before, and she screamed in fright on the spot.
"sister……"
"Qiuqiu, are you alright?"
None of the people present had ever seen anything like this before, and the scene suddenly descended into chaos.
The numbness finally subsided, and Shen Wuqiu gently moved her hand before softly calling out to the white cat, "Meow, stop it..."
Upon hearing her voice, the white cat stopped scratching, but remained perched on Su Yunzhi's head.
Shen Wuqiu walked over and reached out her hand. The white cat then leaped into her arms, its blue eyes still glaring fiercely at Su Yunzhi.
Su Yunzhi was still somewhat shaken. When she saw the white cat in Shen Wuqiu's arms, she was both angry and aggrieved, and tears streamed down her face. "You all saw it, this beast is bullying me... I'm telling you right now, this family is either me or her..."
Mr. Shen's face was gloomy. When he looked at Shen Wuqiu, there was a hint of guilt in his expression. "Qiuqiu, you didn't hit her, did you?"
"It's alright, you don't need to worry." Shen Wuqiu, not wanting to put her father in a difficult position, lowered her head and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry to have frightened Auntie..."
"I told you long ago not to bring this filthy thing home. Now I finally understand, you sent her here to bring bad luck to me..."
Shen Wujun couldn't stand these harsh words anymore. "Why did you hit her for no reason? Why did she only target you and not anyone else?"
"Fine..." Su Yunzhi burst into tears, "You heartless bastard."
The two men present felt embarrassed by her tantrum, especially Shen Wujun, who said, "Why are you crying? Your sister just came back and you're acting like this. Do you want others to come and watch the show?"
As he spoke, Shen Wujun tried to pull Su Yunzhi back to her room.
Shen Wuqiu's lips moved slightly, but she suddenly didn't know what to say.
Mr. Chen sat at the dining table, looking helpless. “Since you can’t stand Qiuqiu, then you can leave. You said before that you had the house in the provincial capital renovated so that it would be convenient for Juanjuan to work.”
Upon hearing this, Su Yunzhi became anxious: "Shen Xiangle, what do you mean by that?"
"Qiuqiu is in charge of these lands, and I don't have any other houses to leave her. I can't possibly give her this dilapidated two-story house, can I?"
"So you and your daughter are trying to get rid of me?"
"Am I the one who wants to get rid of you, or do you want to get rid of Qiuqiu?"
"Did I chase her away? It was her cat..."
"If you can't stand her cat, doesn't that mean you can't stand her?"
Su Yunzhi was speechless for a moment, slumped in her dining chair, and after a long while, she said, "Anyway, I won't leave."
Mr. Shen: "Qiuqiu won't leave, and neither will Qiuqiu's cat. If you want to live a good life, don't make so many fuss."
Su Yunzhi knew her father's temperament. When he wasn't provoked, she could do whatever she wanted, but once he was, nothing could stop him. She had been in this family for so many years and couldn't bear to leave, especially not her father. But she felt wronged and sobbed, "I was so angry that I threw the water glass. Didn't I get bullied by this cat for nothing?"
Hearing Su Yunzhi's softened words, Shen Wuqiu felt a strange urge to laugh. In that instant, she suddenly realized that this stepmother wasn't so unpleasant after all. "She's very understanding. If I treat her well in the future, she'll definitely like you too. I'm sorry about what happened today."
Su Yunzhi turned her face away and gave a soft hum, but didn't say anything more.
Shen Wuqiu didn't say much. He told his father and then carried the white cat back upstairs.
Back in her room, Shen Wuqiu glanced at her swollen hand and then rubbed the white cat's head. "You can't be so reckless in the future."
"Meow~" The white cat stuck out its tongue and licked the back of her hand back and forth. After licking it a couple of times, it looked up at her, looking very distressed for her.
The more Shen Wuqiu looked at her, the cuter she seemed. She couldn't help but lower her head and press her forehead against hers. "It's alright, you don't need to worry. But you, you're not allowed to go out and meet stray cats anymore. If you end up having a litter of kittens, I won't raise them for you."
The white cat protested: "Meow~~"
Shen Wuqiu thought for a moment and then said, "I heard that after a female cat is spayed, she will behave herself and won't think about running away all the time. When I'm done with my work, I'll take you to get spayed."
The white cat immediately broke free from her embrace, meowing.
"Scolding you won't help; it's your own fault for never being home."
A note from the author:
The first twenty are the old rules.
Chapter 17 Sound
In the evening, the village officials came to the house with the official land transfer documents and asked Shen Wuqiu and her father to sign them.
Although Jingrong Village is a large village, in recent years, there have been few successful people in the village, and even fewer successful people who are willing to return to this remote mountain village. In addition, Mr. Shen has contributed a lot to the village over the years.
Therefore, the village values Shen Wuqiu, a female college student who is willing to return to her hometown to farm, and with Shen Yan helping to mediate, they also care about her current orchard planting.
When she came to sign the documents, the village immediately arranged for two experts to come over.
The experts arranged by the village were technicians who specifically guided the bayberry base in the county, and they were more professional than fruit farmers like Uncle Zheng.
With the guidance of professionals, Shen Wuqiu went to Xishan the next day to determine the number of bayberry trees to be planted.
Shen Wuqiu previously thought that with the availability of high-end machinery, farming wouldn't be too hard. But once she got busy, she realized that farming was not an easy task at all.
Because the weather had changed, they needed to prepare the pits for the bayberry trees before the rain started. Since they were short-handed, Shen Wuqiu had to work alongside a group of men.
For several days in a row, she was so busy that she barely had time to rest.
On the other hand, although the white cat showed great panic and resistance to the "sterilization" issue, she did not take Shen Wuqiu's words as a threat and continued to do as she pleased. Anyway, she could not be seen in the morning.
Shen Wuqiu was also powerless to do anything about it, but whenever she couldn't see the cat, she would strengthen her resolve to "make time to take the cat to be spayed/neutered".
She was busy until the evening of the fourth day before she finally planted the two thousand bayberry trees.
Once the bayberry trees are planted, she can breathe a little easier, because the tangerine trees on the hillside are three-year-old species, so planting them a little later won't have much of an impact, and they'll be easier to plant.
In addition, the continuous spring rain made it difficult to work in the fields, so Shen Wuqiu took the opportunity to give himself two days off.
That morning, Shen Wuqiu woke up from her unspeakable dream as usual.
Habit is a terrible thing. After having the same dream for seven days in a row, she no longer felt much shame and could even savor it with a sense of enjoyment.
The only difference was that, in his recollection that morning, Shen Wuqiu actually managed to piece together the image of the woman from his dream.
When the woman's face was fully outlined in his mind, Shen Wuqiu was startled.
The woman in my dream had a fair, jade-like face that every woman would envy. Her features weren't particularly exquisite, but her eyes were the most unique. They resembled phoenix eyes, but without their coldness. Instead, they exuded a charming and delicate quality, with sparkling pupils that reflected both innocence and allure.
Those eyes alone are enough to amaze everyone.
Not to mention the shimmering light that fills those eyes when they are moved by emotion.
Every smile and gesture of the woman became exceptionally clear in his mind, and Shen Wuqiu's heart pounded like a drumbeat...
After a long time, she closed her eyes, placed her hands on her chest, and soothed the little deer in her heart.
This feeling is both strange and peculiar—I miss her so much, so much.
This longing is light, passionate, and exuberant, yet it carries a hint of regret that it was just a dream, and a touch of emptiness.
Immediately, a wave of shame washed over her; she had actually developed a strange affection for a phantom that only appeared in her dreams.
These complex emotions tugged at Shen Wuqiu's mind, making her feel numb and confused. She dared not lie in bed any longer and quickly got up to wash and go downstairs.
Downstairs, Mr. Shen was also up. Today, he was even wearing his reading glasses while sitting on the sofa. He was looking at her intently, and Shen Wuqiu didn't notice him for a long time. It wasn't until she picked up her teacup that she finally noticed him.
"You've worked so hard these past few days, why don't you sleep in a little longer tonight?"
Seeing that her father was looking at her, Shen Wuqiu sat down on the sofa next to him and raised her hand to pinch her brow bone. "I can't sleep."
"Are you under too much pressure?" Mr. Shen adjusted his reading glasses, looked her over, and looked at her with concern in his eyes. "You look pale and tired. You must be exhausted."
Shen Wuqiu subconsciously touched her face, but the thought that flashed through her mind was: Could it be that an immersive dream could also lead to excessive indulgence?
The thought nearly made her die of shame and indignation—what was she thinking in front of everyone, especially her elderly father?
Shen Wuqiu quickly lowered his hand guiltily, then coughed twice guiltily: "Maybe. I see that you've been in much better spirits lately, and your complexion looks much better than before."
Speaking of this, Mr. Shen was also puzzled, "Ever since you came back, I feel less pain, my appetite has improved, and I can walk around more often..."
Shen Wuqiu looked at him: "Really?"
Mr. Shen realized what was happening. "You don't believe me? You thought I was just pretending to trick you into coming back?"
Shen Wuqiu lowered her eyes: "I didn't say that."
She had seen Mr. Shen's medical report and asked his attending physician. After a pause, she said, "I would rather you were lying to me."
"Life and death are predestined, everything is predetermined." Mr. Shen comforted him, but then couldn't help but sigh, "If it were like this now, I think it would be nice to be alive."
Shen Wuqiu felt a little sad. "Dad, how about we go to the hospital again?"
"No way. I'm perfectly fine at home right now, why would I want to go to the hospital and suffer?"
"Maybe it will get better on its own again?"
Mr. Shen chuckled, “You silly child, there aren’t that many miracles in the world.”
Mr. Shen didn't want to talk about such bad moods so early in the morning. He looked around the house and asked, "Your cat ran away again?"
Shen Wuqiu was still thinking about taking him to the hospital and didn't want to talk about the cat, so she absentmindedly replied, "Anyway, it's like this every day. It'll come back on its own later."
"I don't know what this little thing is doing running out at this time every day."
"It might be a stray cat." Shen Wuqiu's mood worsened at the thought of the possibility Shen Wujun mentioned.
Mr. Shen was quite optimistic, saying, "It seems like we'll soon have a few more cats in our house."
Shen Wuqiu couldn't think straight. "One is already annoying enough. Anyway, I have nothing to do today, so I'll take her to the hospital this afternoon to get her spayed so she won't run around all day and cause me so much trouble."